67‐90 GHz broadband power detector with 3 GHz output bandwidth for on‐chip test of millimeter‐wave circuits

Summary This paper presents the design of a compact and wide bandwidth millimeter‐wave power detector, integrated at the output of an E‐band power amplifier and implemented in a 55‐nm SiGe BiCMOS process. It is based on a nonlinear PMOS detector core, and its measured output voltage tracks the output power of the PA from 67 to 90 GHz. It provides an insertion loss lower than 0.2 dB, and its responsivity can be tuned between 8 and 17 V/W. The output bandwidth is bigger than 3 GHz, which allows built‐in self‐test when transmitting multigigabit millimeter‐wave signals. This article presents the design of a broadband millimeter‐wave power detector and demonstrates its performance with measurement results. It senses the output power of a power amplifier over a frequency range of 67 to 90 GHz. It detects signal envelopes with a bandwidth up to 3 GHz, which outperforms other reported detectors.